Authorities lifted an evacuation order for an estimated 200 to 300 homes near the Monument Fire burning south of Sierra Vista.
The blaze, which has burned 29,065 acres, was 59 percent contained, fire officials said. It began June 12 and is human-caused.
The evacuation was called off for those homes after crews continued making progress in building protection lines to shield an upscale neighborhood from the blaze.
Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever said Thursday that only 316 homes in the neighborhood remain evacuated as a result of the 44-square-mile fire burning on the outskirts of Sierra Vista.
Dever said the last evacuation order could be lifted as early as Saturday.
The fire has destroyed at least 57 homes, a five-unit apartment building and five businesses.
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Officials on Thursday open the last closed stretch of Arizona 92 to all traffic. No homes are under pre-evacuation notices.
Firefighters focused Thursday night on widening containment lines and creating bigger buffer zones between the areas where the fire was burning, and nearby homes, said Dixie Dies,a spokeswoman for the Northern Rockies Incident Management Team.
Fire crews were working to secure the northwestern edge of the fire, Dies said.
Crews, including some from Fort Huachuca, were expected to burn 1,000 acres along Garden Canyon, she said.
Reporter Jamar Younger and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
